mikeymig Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Cool flick! Is part of the skeleton there as well? If so, maybe a part two. mikey Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truceburner Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Yes, most of the rest of the articulated skeleton will come out next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Great Idea with the camera TB. Thanks for posting this project. That suspension bench is genius. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 An exciting chapter in your life's work brilliantly captured in digital form. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Nice video! And a great idea! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 Thanks everyone for all of the kind words and for the advice! Here are a couple of pics... Will post more pics & video soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Wonderful job with the dig and video! Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 that is sooooo cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeriderdon Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 OK, the level of cool involved here is off the charts! Great job all around. I sincerely hope you will post stuff through the prep and everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Cool flick! Is part of the skeleton there as well? If so, maybe a part two. mikey Yes we took lots of pics & video. Will post soon. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 Update for August, 2014... Thanks to everyone for the advice and encouragement! The bison was properly excavated & documented in April-May with more than a lot of help from member Truceburner and others outside of this forum. Bones and soil matrix are being analyzed with no results available yet as of the time of this post. Unofficial opinions of a few well-informed minds (not categorizing myself in that class!) believe that this is the extinct species Bison Occidentalis. There has been no obvious evidence of butchering, no projectile points, or anything indicating a human involvement with this animal at this point, but the official analysis has not gotten back to me yet. Soil matrix from the rib cage, cranial, nasal, and orbital cavities are also being analyzed for microfossils and paleo pollens. I'm working on preserving the skull. Looking for some pointers... The right mandible is being analyzed by a bone expert in North Texas; other than that I have posession of the entire skull. It is filled with dirt and that's actually what's holding it all together. I would describe the brittle nature of the bone as comperable to stale peanut butter crackers. Sometimes as I remove the interior dirt, pieces of the bone flake away even at the slightest touch. Almost like trying to scrape out the peanut butter from between the wafers without breaking them! The skull also had extensive damage to the right frontal and orbital caused by a tree root growing through it. I have divided the skull into quadrants and have been bagging and labeling the pieces as they break off so I can put most of the largest pieces back into place, but I was hoping for some advice on how to proceed. Some of the bone is so thin that the marrow is completely replaced by dirt with only a thin shell of brittle outer bone material held in place by the sod. I'm starting to wonder if I should just seal the dirt in to keep it all held together. I don't know if I have the time or patience to clean hundreds of little pieces & try to glue it all back together. Also, does anyone know what the best adhesive would be for gluing pieces back in place? I've read a lot on this forum and have been told clear super glue or watered down school glue would proably do the trick but I'm hesitant to compromise the specimen. Right now the whole skull is sealed from the outside with all of the inner matrix dirt still intact inside. I sealed it with a hardening mixture of PVA chrystals and acetone, which can be removed with straight acetone when & if it comes to that. It's sitting in somewhat of a state of suspended animation at the moment. How would you handle the preservation and rearticulation? I have about 100 in-situ and lab pics on this page if anyone is interested... https://www.flickr.com/photos/126916581@N07/sets/72157646505916735/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truceburner Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 "Paging Mr. Beekeeper, Mr. Beekeeper to the white courtesy phone for an update on the age of that bison..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Pva in acetone is a great start, and you can remove it with acetone and a little welding brush. Slow, but very effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njfossilhunter Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I would love to hear a update on your Bison....Its a wonderful find and I hope everything is going well....... TonyThe Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find. I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted June 8, 2017 Author Share Posted June 8, 2017 Hello all, It's been a while since I've had any activity on this forum but thought I'd give an update on this bison skeleton. This was not an extinct species, but a modern one that carbon dated to about 700 years old. She was an adult female about seven years old at the time of death. I spent about 6 months stabilizing the skull with PVA/acetone, as it was in several pieces. The rest of the skeleton remained wrapped and boxed from the excavation and kept in a closet for a couple of years while the skull sat proudly in my study. In the meantime I was approached by the National Bison Association, as they were interested in getting a DNA sample to compare with modern bison, which contain traces of bovine cattle DNA. Since this bison was prehistoric, before cattle were introduced by early European explorers, they were interested in making a comparison. Unfortunately the teeth were too mineralized to extract a DNA sample. A calcaneum was examined for another study called Project Bison, which is an attempt to determine the animal's ability to adapt to abrupt climate change. And on this forum, some of the members interested in microfossils examined some of the interior cranial matrix. Perhaps some of you who I sent samples to could comment, although most came back as unremarkable. As of now, the skull will be displayed at the Falls On The Colorado Museum in Marble Falls, Texas starting next weekend, 6/17/17. The long term plan is to restore and rearticulate the rest of the skeleton, but that will likely be a long and expensive process. In the meantime the skull will be at the museum as part of an exhibit with some Native American pieces and artifacts. If anyone is ever in Marble Falls (about an hour northwest of Austin) then stop by the museum! Their website is www.fallsmuseum.org I have some info and pics with lots of links and FF member Truceburner's video here if anyone is interested: http://www.cloudhollow.com/prehistoric-bison-excavation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Thanks for following through with us. it can be a long time between discovery and knowledge but it is worth the wait. and congratulations on having your specimen being important enough to be studied. You may never know that what you find is important unless you can have a place to discuss it like TFF. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 This is a very interesting an informative post. I'm glad @Beekeeper gave the update or I never would have seen it! I have some experience building mounts for fossils (admittedly never a full body mount). Since this specimen is going to be displayed in a small museum, I'm willing to donate my labor to build the mount. Send me a PM if you want to discuss it; I would love to see this specimen on full display as it deserves. Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted June 16, 2017 Author Share Posted June 16, 2017 Wow, thanks Kris for the generous offer! I will send you a direct message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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